Sheng Tang: What is Liu Jianjun going to do today?

Chapter 136 Difficulty Traveling

Upon hearing this, Liu Jianjun immediately stared wide-eyed at Taiping.

"You...you know Wan'er?"

Taiping looked at him with suspicion, then nodded matter-of-factly: "Of course! Wan'er is my best friend!"

"Best friend?" Liu Jianjun looked surprised again.

Li Xian, of course, knew what Liu Jianjun was so surprised about. He smiled, looked at Liu Jianjun, and noticed that Liu Jianjun glanced at him before his gaze wandered away. He then looked at Taiping and said, "Your close friend has been secretly having an affair with Liu Jianjun for a long time!"

Taiping's eyes widened instantly.

Liu Jianjun immediately jumped up and argued, "What do you mean by 'secretly having an affair'? That's called mutual affection, that's called being soulmates..."

Before he could finish speaking, Taiping interrupted him, exclaiming in surprise, "Wan'er... would take a liking to you?"

At this point, Liu Jianjun couldn't sit still any longer. He snatched the grilled fish from Taiping's hand and said, "Don't eat it, I grilled it!"

Then he took a bite of the spot where Taiping had just eaten.

Taiping's expression turned anxious, and she looked at Li Xian with ill intent.

Li Xian sensed something was wrong, but it was clearly too late.

Taiping suddenly reached out and snatched the fish from Li Xian's hand, spitting at it for a while before looking triumphantly at Liu Jianjun: "Do you want to eat my saliva?"

Liu Jianjun looked left at Taiping, then right at Li Xian, whose hands were empty, and finally gave in, handing the grilled fish to Li Xian and conceding, "Alright, we're all people who exchange saliva now. In the past, we swore oaths by drinking blood; now the three of us are swearing oaths by exchanging saliva by the Luo River. That's quite a story..."

"Bah bah bah!"

Taiping suddenly spat and asked Liu Jianjun, who looked bewildered, "Are you Sima Yi or is your brother Sima Yi?"

"Uh..." Liu Jianjun was speechless.

……

As darkness fell, it became so dark that one could only see about ten feet around by the light of the fire.

Liu Jianjun asked quietly, "Xianzi, shall we go back?"

Before Li Xian could answer, Taiping said, "Go back? No way! We're staying here tonight!"

Li Xian shrugged, signaling that it was Taiping's turn to speak.

Liu Jianjun simply stood up abruptly.

Taiping grew anxious and asked, "Where are you going?"

"Let's get some firewood! It's the middle of autumn, and if we just sit here all night, we'll catch a cold the next day!"

When Liu Jianjun returned, the group moved the campfire to a spot on the riverbank further away from the Luo River, where the terrain was slightly drier.

With a reluctant expression, Liu Jianjun took off his robe and spread it on the ground. Then he said to Li Xian and Taiping, "Xianzi's robe was lost because he was showing off. It's not appropriate for you, a girl, to take off your clothes. You'll just have to make do with my robe for now."

Taiping arrogantly shouted, "Who wants to sleep! I can sit up all night!"

Then he plopped down on Liu Jianjun's robe.

Liu Jianjun was not convinced and sat down next to her. Seeing that the two of them had almost taken up all the robe, Li Xian simply sat down as well.

The three of them stood back to back, with only the crackling of the campfire around them.

Liu Jianjun suddenly asked, "Taiping?"

His voice was a little deep.

"What's wrong, Junzi?" Taiping still had that carefree attitude.

But Li Xian was suddenly sweating. How come Taiping's speech had taken on a strange, heavy accent in just one afternoon?

Liu Jianjun then asked, "Are you and Xue Shao on good terms?"

Li Xian turned his head in surprise and found Liu Jianjun looking at the sky with a somewhat inexplicable expression.

Li Xian followed his gaze and saw a particularly bright star named Cowherd. Taiping, seemingly used to Liu Jianjun's way of speaking, said casually, "What's wrong? Have you fallen deeply in love with me?"

Then he joked, "I'll tell Wan'er this when I get back!"

Liu Jianjun turned around irritably, nudged Li Xian with his elbow, and said, "Control your sister! Where is the demeanor of an imperial princess?"

Li Xian shrugged: "Even my mother can't control her, how can I?"

Taiping smiled broadly.

But Liu Jianjun seemed somewhat dejected, remaining silent and keeping his head down.

Li Xian thought to himself that Liu Jianjun must have a lot on his mind.

Just as Li Xian was about to ask further, a commotion suddenly arose from nearby, and someone shouted, "Your Highness's horse is here!"

Then, a clamor arose, and everyone shouted in unison, "Princess! His Highness Prince Pei!"

Squeezed through the crowd, a particularly urgent voice cried out: "Peace!"

Upon hearing the voice, Taiping's expression changed, and he stood up: "It's Xue Shao!"

Li Xian and Liu Jianjun were stunned. They stood up at the same time, and Liu Jianjun blurted out without restraint, "Oh no! We've been caught cheating!"

Li Xian glared at him irritably and said, "What are you catching me cheating on? I'm still right here!"

Taiping, also annoyed, kicked Liu Jianjun. Under the starlight, Taiping's toes looked as clear as white jade.

Li Xian felt that this was definitely not a punishment for Liu Jianjun.

Then, Taiping suddenly grabbed Li Xian and Liu Jianjun's hands and said, "Let's go! Let's run!"

Li Xian saw the eager anticipation in Taiping's eyes.

But then Liu Jianjun shook his head and said, "It's time to go back."

Taiping looked at Liu Jianjun in astonishment, his expression seemingly somewhat saddened, making Li Xian almost blurt out, "Let's run!"

But Liu Jianjun grinned and said, "Come again tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, and many more tomorrows. You can come anytime. Your brother Wang is right here."

This time, Taiping suddenly smiled with relief and nodded: "You dark-faced fellow are actually quite endearing! I'll bring Wan'er out tomorrow!"

Liu Jianjun's eyes suddenly lit up.

Then he said, "Well then, before they come looking for us, let me write a poem for you both."

Li Xian thought to himself: Whenever Taiping mentions Shangguan Wan'er, Liu Jianjun thinks about writing a poem. Could it be that he wants to recite some lewd and vulgar tunes?
But at this moment, Liu Jianjun cleared his throat and recited: "A golden goblet of fine wine costs ten thousand coins, and a jade plate of delicacies is worth ten thousand coins."

Li Xian stopped talking.

"I stop drinking and eating, I draw my sword and look around, my heart is filled with confusion! I want to cross the Yellow River, but the ice blocks the way; I want to climb Mount Taihang, but the snow covers the mountain! In my leisure time, I fish on the green stream, and suddenly I dream of sailing to the edge of the sun."

Upon hearing this, Li Xian couldn't help but feel a sense of frustration, because Empress Wu was like the most formidable mountain in front of him, even higher than a mountain.

He murmured to himself, "I want to cross the Yellow River, but the ice blocks the way; I want to climb Mount Taihang, but the snow covers the mountain..."

But then, Liu Jianjun's voice suddenly rose, filled with passion and inspiration: "The road is hard! The road is hard! So many forks in the road, where am I now? There will be a time when the wind will break the waves, and I will set sail to cross the vast ocean!"

It was as if a sharp blade had pierced through the dark clouds, and the sunlight shone directly on the earth. Suddenly, a ray of light rose in Li Xian's heart.

From the "difficult road to Shu" to the current "many forks in the road, where am I now?", Liu Jianjun has always been there.

This is the greatest encouragement.

Li Xian was about to look at Liu Jianjun with heartfelt gratitude, but then he saw Liu Jianjun facing Taiping and saying sincerely, "Taiping, this poem is for you."

Li Xian looked completely bewildered.

What does this poem have to do with peace?
……

(End of this chapter)